Monday’s political round-up

October 15, 2007

Today’s installment of campaign-related news items that wouldn’t generate a post of their own, but may be of interest to political observers:

* The exodus continues: Rep. David Hobson, a nine-term Republican from Ohio, announced yesterday that he will retire at the end of the term. Despite the GOP leadership’s desperate desire to keep retirements to a minimum, Hobson is the 12th Republican to step down this year, and there’s still a year to go.

* John Edwards will get a helpful boost today when the Iowa State Council of the Service Employees International Union throws its support to the former senator’s presidential campaign. The announcement comes shortly after last week’s announcement that the national SEIU would not officially back any candidate.

* A Marist College Institute poll in New Hampshire, released yesterday, showed Hillary Clinton leading the Democratic field with 40% support, followed by Barack Obama with 20%, and Edwards with 12%. No other candidate reached double digits.

* Marist College also polled New Hampshire Republicans, and found a much narrower race. Mitt Romney currently leads with 25%, followed closely by Rudy Giuliani with 21%. John McCain was third with 18%, and Fred Thompson was a distant fourth with 10%.

* Obama, speaking at an interfaith forum in downtown Des Moines yesterday, said that too often religious leaders use faith to “exploit what divides us” by saying that the only issues that matter are abortion, gay marriage, school prayer, and creationism. He added that he wanted to change the boundaries for what should be considered a religious issue to include global warming. “The bible tells us that when God created the earth, he entrusted us with the responsibility to take care of that earth,” he said. “It is a responsibility to ensure that this planet remains clean and safe and livable for our children, and for all of God’s children.”

* Virginia Republicans hoping to find a candidate who can beat former Gov. Mark Warner (D) in next year’s open U.S. Senate race will not have a primary. Virginia’s Republican State Central Committee voted over the weekend to hold a nominating convention instead of allowing GOP voters in the state to pick their candidate. As one Republican official said “primaries are expensive and bitter,” while “conventions are cheap and bitter.” He added, “Cheap is better.”

* Friends of the Earth Action, the San Francisco-based political arm of Friends of the Earth, endorsed a presidential candidate on each side of the aisle over the weekend, backing Edwards on the Democratic side, and John McCain on the GOP side. Group officials noted that among the Dems’ top-tier candidates, Edwards is the only one to staunchly oppose expanding use of nuclear power.

* And the NYT notes today that much of the New York City Republican establishment is balking at supporting Rudy Giuliani’s presidential bid, in part because of all the bridges he burnt while in office, including former Sen. Alfonse D’Amato (R). Apparently, allies of former Gov. George Pataki are some of Giuliani’s harshest critics. (Giuliani endorsed Democrat Mario Cuomo in 1994, when Pataki was first elected.)

Group officials noted that among the Dems’ top-tier candidates, Edwards is the only one to staunchly oppose expanding use of nuclear power.

I sure don’t staunchly oppose it. I think France is actually run almost uniformly on nuclear power.

  • “Rudy was first a Democrat who became a Republican just to get a job in a Republican administration, and he’s not done yet,” Mr. D’Amato said at one point. “There is no philosophical underpinning to him. There is one of a total amoral philosophy.”

    That’s quite an endorsement! Vote for Rudy, he’s totally amoral!

    “…Mr. Giuliani bolted his party to support Mr. Pataki’s opponent, Mario M. Cuomo, the Democratic incumbent, and warned that “ethics will be trashed” if the “D’Amato-Pataki crew ever get control.”…”

    And Rudy the “show pony” knows ethics! Ask his ex wives or his buddy Kerik!

    ———————–

    Obama: “It is a responsibility to ensure that this planet remains clean and safe and livable for our children, and for all of God’s children.”

    What a frickin’ commie. If I can’t have cheap gas for my Hummer, the world just might as well end. Screw the children. Besides, God won’t let anything bad happen to the good people, they’re going to be raptured anyway, right after Bush starts the final war between good and evil.

    God will clean up the mess, just like Poppy and his friends always cleaned up Junior’s messes.

    Nuke a gay whale for Jesus.

  • Terrific analysis of the Clinton Coronation Campaign here:

    http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=washingtonstory&sid=aOOcRBgoYXPw

    Her campaign has been brilliant. It is great at small stuff like bracket scheduling — making sure she or a surrogate appears right before and after a major appearance by an opponent. It is equally good on big stuff. Eight months ago, Clinton, 59, was bedeviled by the party’s antiwar base for her initial support of the Iraq conflict; today it’s practically a non-issue.

    The Clinton campaign is efficient, effective, disciplined and tough.

    It also seems to be joyless, humorless and lacking in heart and soul.

    A take-no-prisoners, us vs. them mindset has served her well.
    …
    The Penn political model isn’t Bill Clinton’s successful 1992 challenge for the presidency. It is more Karl Rove, who masterminded George W. Bush’s victories. Devise a comprehensive game plan replete with exhaustive numbers and historical context, and execute it with iron discipline.

  • good for Edwards. Until and unless they come up w/ a viable method for waste transfer, storage and disposal, [other than bury it in canisters that inevitably leak, or blow off mountain tops, stuff the waste inside, hope the stuff doesn’t leak into our water tables, and stick a big sign in the middle of it that reads “Don’t dig here”], I am w/ Edwards. Also, I propose that those who say the nuclear waste is safe and storage methods are top-notch, that these folks live in closest proximity to the dump sites, and have the trains carrying the radioactive material running through THEIR towns, near their children.

  • Eight months ago, Clinton, 59, was bedeviled by the party’s antiwar base for her initial support of the Iraq conflict; today it’s practically a non-issue. -from dajafi’s excerpt

    It isn’t a non-issue for me. Nor is her initial support of the Iran conflict. Or Patriot Act. Or bullying the media.

    The Penn political model isn’t Bill Clinton’s successful 1992 challenge for the presidency. It is more Karl Rove, who masterminded George W. Bush’s victories.

    More of the same: authoritarian, power hungry, war hungry.

  • Group officials noted that among the Dems’ top-tier candidates, Edwards is the only one to staunchly oppose expanding use of nuclear power.

    At best, nuclear can be a bridge while we (Someone) develops less consequential technologies. At worst, it is still inevitable. We can build nuclear power plants without having to go somewhere and fight people for the fuel. In terms of worrisome greenhouse gases nuclear is the least impactful technology currently available to us. Waiting around for fusion power or believing that there’s enough arable land to grow the crops necessary to provide for our energy needs (The devotion of arable land to specially hybridized corn for methanol is why a dozen eggs now cost close to four bucks) is delusional. Yes, nuclear waste takes thousands of years to decay – the world as we know it will take less than a dozen years to do the same without a reliable source of energy.

  • “”The bible tells us that when God created the earth, he entrusted us with the responsibility to take care of that earth,” he said. “It is a responsibility to ensure that this planet remains clean and safe and livable for our children, and for all of God’s children.””

    I suppose, since Obama was speaking before a religious audience, that I ought to let this slide, but I’m getting awfully tired of religion and polititcs being mixed together so shamelessly.

    Talk about Bush shredding the Constitution. Both parties are running over the religious clauses of the First Amendment and the secular nature of the Constitution like a steam roller.

    When was the last time a politician warned us to be mindful of the (Constitutional) tradition of the separation of church and state?

  • So is Virginia trying out an upcoming GOP argument regarding democracy in general, or what?

    (I mean, national elections are certainly expensive and bitter, and if you can’t scare enough people into voting your way, or screw up on stealing votes or run into too many judges with honor or something, you might mistakenly end up with a democrat in office. So better safe than sorry, right? [/snark] )

  • Neither Edwards nor Obama have an energy/environment policy that’s worth a damn. And a good part of the reason why is because they’re insulated from any meaningful input by lame advisors who themselves have their own agendas, and who are not scientists or engineers but political hacks. So they come out touting their forward thinking with the lamest concepts, like (with Edwards) how good it’ll be for poor farmers in Africa who’ll be able to grow cash crops for our biofuels, and more garbage about clean coal and carbon trading (and biofuels) from Obama. And neither of them knows squat about nuclear technology that can burn waste as fuel, and they’ll never know because their hack advisors don’t want to hear it. Color me less than impressed. Soon some real answers will be on the table, from another candidate with some real knowledge instead of a passel of worthless advisors.

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